'We count on that money for vacation,' says Nancy Gomez, branch president of CWA Local 1031 representing about 250 staff members at NJCU.

Dozens of employees at New Jersey City University had their identities stolen and federal tax returns filed in their names after a security breach allowed access to their personal information., school and employee union officials confirmed.

Union leaders at the Jersey City university say as many as 39 union members have been the
victims of identity theft after they learned that their federal tax returns were filed
in their names and the ID thieves collected their tax refund checks.

Nancy Gomez, branch
president of CWA Local 1031, which represents about 250 staff members at the
university, said she was "pissed off" when union members discovered the scam.

"We count on that
money for vacation," said Gomez, a secretarial assistant at the university. "And for you to make plans and then find out that
you have no money, it's kind of upsetting."

Prof. William Calathes,
president of AFT Local 1839, which represents nearly 1,000 full- and part-time
faculty at the university, said between 15 and 20 members of his union suspect
they have been victims of identity theft through the school.

Members of the AFT Local 1839 brought up the issue at an
April 21 union meeting. The union immediately called on the university to
conduct a full investigation.

"I was shocked and
hurt because our union members have suffered a loss," said Calathes, a
criminal justice professor at the university. "And I felt relatively powerless
in order to assist them."

Some union members of the AFT have reached out to the IRS and federal agencies, Calathes said.

Ellen Wayman-Gordon, a
spokeswoman for the university, confirmed that employees have brought the issue to the
university's attention. The university issued a notice on March 26
warning faculty and staff about the security breach.

Wayman-Gordon also said that "no direct
connection to the university had been identified."

Federal authorities did not return calls for comment regarding the stolen tax returns and
refund checks.

In addition to
reaching out to federal officials, the university is currently conducting its own "internal
review" to investigate how more than three dozen employees' personal information
could have been stolen, Wayman-Gordon said.

"The university is engaged in an internal review and has had
contact with the IRS about the employee reports," Wayman-Gordon said.

"The IRS
is looking into the reported incidents. In the event the university
learns that there is a direct connection between the university and the
fraudulent activity, the university will give that information full
consideration and take action as required."

However, Gomez said
the university's response to the security breach has been anemic and criticized
officials for not taking swifter steps to warn faculty and staff.

"It upsets me when I
don't know if (the university) knew about this and they took (too) long to
report it to the community," Gomez said. "I don't know why they didn't respond right away."

Calathes hesitated to
blame the university before any investigation into the matter is completed.

"There's no way of
knowing if it was the university's fault or not," Calathes said. "But from the
union's perspective, it was important ... to put the administration on notice
that we expected the university to conduct a full investigation to get to the
bottom of it and indicate what procedures they would put in place if they felt
that new procedures had to be put into place to protect checks and
identities."

For now, the unions and those whose identities were stolen are stuck waiting to learn from the university just how so many people's personal information was leaked.

"There is not a union remedy," Calathes said. "We are waiting for [university] administration to look into this. We [the union members] have no way of knowing what happened."